Dreams & Moonlight
by Gingeh
Summary: And then she was there, and he sobbed, and she cried, and he was touching her, holding her, kissing her, and he just couldn't get enough. "Yue…" -Sokka/Yue; oneshot. Posted because the movie completely failed to capture their amazingness-


**Dreams & Moonlight  
**_An old Avatar fic of Gingeh's that she scrounged up, polished, and posted for the _Last Airbender _movie day  
_(She owns neither the totally pwnsome series nor the uber fail movie of doom)

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"A moon temple?"

Suki looked back at him. "Yes; it's very famous—people come from all four corners of the map to visit it."

"Can . . . can we see it?"

A small smile. "Sorry Sokka. It's only open to the public during the full moon, or for lunar festivals." She caught his disappointed sigh. "Don't worry. Trust me, there's lots of other stuff we do in the city."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah . . . okay."

"Are you alright?"

A pause. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Her tone was skeptical.

"Yes." His was firm, and he took her hand. "Now, where should we go?"

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The door creaked open, and Sokka winced as he hurriedly slipped inside the temple. He shut the door carefully behind him, relieved that it didn't make quite as much noise the second time, and scanned the area for guards, priests—whoever might discover him.

The temple remained blissfully vacant, and he began to make his way down the long white hallway extending in front of him. His footsteps echoed behind him, they and his shadow only marker of his presence.

After several minutes of walking through the twists and turns of the inward-spiraling passage, he reached the arched doorways that were the entrance to the moon chamber. He stood before the doors for a few precious moments, breathing deeply, tracing their looping articulate designs with his eyes.

At long last he shook his head, stepped forward, and pushed at one of the doors. It slid open with a light _swish_, and he entered the chamber.

For a moment he felt as blind as Toph as pure brightness flooded his senses. When his vision cleared, he looked upon a round room as white as the rest of the temple, but for the black mosaic of swirling words and pictures honoring the moon goddess that occupied the floor in the middle of the room. The ceiling sloped upwards to form a globe, the center uncovered to let spill in the brilliant moonlight.

He stepped forward slowly, reverently. When he came to the mosaic, he hesitated for a brief second, suspecting he wasn't supposed to touch it. He moved forward anyway, treading on the black tiles until he reached the point where the light shone the brightest, he halted, and slowly kneeled. He bowed his head, and then raised it to look at the crescent moon hovering high in the sky above him.

"Yue."

Stillness. Silence. For a moment, time slowed.

But then everything was fast, and moon above his head was filling, filling—_full_.

The room positively glowed with light, and a moonbeam shone on his head, and couldn't see, it was too bright, and he was tearing up.

And then she was _there_, and he sobbed, and she cried, and he was _touching her_, _holding her_, _kissing her_, and he just couldn't get enough. _Yue…_

Finally he just held her close, and she wrapped her arms around him, and they let the tears fall.

"I can't stay," she whispered.

Equally softly, he told her, "I know. You never could."

She laughed, though half of it came out as more of a choke. "I'm sorry. It is my duty. My life."

"I know."

He rubbed small circles on her back, and she buried her face into his shoulder. They stayed that way for an endless amount of time. Hours, days, eternities. Minutes, moments, seconds.

When Yue spoke again, her voice was muffled—she didn't remove her face from his arm. "I need to go. The moon spirit's life force is not so recovered enough that it can maintain my form here much longer."

His spirit _screamed_, and he tightened his hold on her. "I'll see you again."

He hadn't said it as a question. He supposed he'd meant it as one, but he wasn't sure if he could handle the answer.

She responded anyway. "One day. I can't promise when, Sokka." She looked up at him then, and raised her hand to cup his cheek. "It may not be for a long time. But we will meet again."

He found her fingers were fading, their touch vanishing from his skin. Desperately, he pressed his mouth to hers. He felt unsaid words brush against his lips, and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them, time was no longer too fast or slow. The moon had reverted to its former, emptier form, and the room was no longer quite the dazzling white it had been mere moments before.

In the morning, Sokka would explain his absence that night by saying he'd eaten some bad moose-lion steak, and had spent most of the night on the toilet. His red eyes he would blame on lack of sleep.

Toph would know he was lying. Katara would be pretty sure. Aang would guess (he was part spirit himself, after all).

All of them would accept his excuses without question. Just a smile, a pat on the back, and maybe a hug.

And he and Suki would probably go wander off into the marketplace to shop. He'd buy her a necklace, or a ribbon, and she'd get into an argument with him about payment. She'd hit him with her fan, and he'd have a bump for the rest of the day.

Later, he and they would leave the city. They would travel, explore, fight, eat—live. They would restore hope to the world. Balance. Peace.

Later still, they would all go their separate ways, and as Suki took one path and he stood at the crossroads, he would be forced to make a choice between the spirits and the earthly.

But he couldn't know that now. Now, he could only pretend that the tears streaming down his cheeks were somehow manly. That he wasn't on the cold floor of an empty room. That he didn't need to leave before the sun rose and he was discovered.

He could only pretend that his princess was more than an illusion.

_Sokka . . ._

"Yue."

Because sometimes, the space between dreams and reality blurred.

_We will meet again._

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**Author's Note:**

Man, this turned out so _angsty_. I should attempt to write a happy Yue x Sokka fic at some point, just because it would be almost original; all the Yue x Sokka fics are so depressing, I swear.

Still working on _Secret Memories_, I promise. I just wanted to post something for the Last Airbender movie day, since I've been waiting for this _forever_. It's not even new; just an old fic from my days on Avatar Portal when I was just a baby writer; I've edited and shaped it up a little (_cough _**lot** _cough_).

The movie failed. I wasn't even a tiny _bit _sad when Yue died, and I wail like a small child whenever I watch her in the series. Siiiiigh. _And all the names were mispronounced_. Seriously. Epic fail. So not worth the two year wait. ...Maybe _Avatar: The Legend of Korra_ will be better 8D

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